The Internet Is Mad At Cracker Barrel For Firing ‘Brad’s Wife’

The Internet can be a strange place where people could get into an argument over political beliefs or whether a dress’ color is blue or gold. But this week, Internet users united over a common cause—to get justice for Brad’s wife, who has been allegedly fired by restaurant chain Cracker Barrel.

On Tuesday morning, an Indiana man named Bradley Reid Byrd took to Cracker Barrel’s Facebook page to ask, “Why did you fire my wife?” Soon, users of the social media site began to demand answers from the company as to why she was fired.

Since then, all of Cracker Barrel’s social media posts have been inundated with comments about Brad’s wife. A post about the restaurant’s macaroni and cheese got a comment which reads, “Brad’s wife used to take home some good ole baked macaroni and cheese. Now the family only gets the boxed stuff. So sad!”

The multiberry pancake breakfast post was similarly flooded in a deluge of Brad’s wife-related commentary. One person alluded to Cracker’s Barrel’s silence on the matter, writing, “I think whoever is in charge of social media should resign and give their job to Brad’s wife. Clearly you’re not answering the masses…Brad’s wife would.”

Brad’s wife, whose name is Nanette, worked for Cracker Barrel for 11 years before she was let go from the company in February. Last month, Brad told his Facebook friends that the company’s excuse for firing his wife is that “she wasn’t working out.”

“After 11 years?” Brad wrote. “You can’t even get people to work 40 hours these days and her average week was 50 to 60.”

A commenter on Cracker Barrel’s Facebook page said that Nanette worked at the Corydon, Indiana Cracker Barrel and was fired by a district manager named Gwen Alexander. The Facebook user said that Nanette is “an older woman whom co-workers/customers say was hardworking, averaged 50-60 hours a week.”

The commenter added that Cracker Barrel has been getting a lot of discrimination lawsuits and wonders if the reason why the restaurant fired Nanette is because she was getting too close to retirement.

On March 3, Brad said that he and his wife are getting their house ready to put on the market. He also revealed in another post that Nanette missed getting vacation pay by two weeks because she was fired before the anniversary of the day she was hired.

On Thursday, March 23, Brad took to the site again to give everyone an update, saying that they have not heard from Cracker Barrel.

“If you want answers, please direct questions to the home office,” Brad wrote. “They are the ones who fired my wife. Thanks to all for the continued support and I will keep you informed…#stillwaiting.”

As a way to give additional support to the Byrds, a man named Timothy Cardell II created a Change.org petition asking for justice for Brad’s wife.

“11 years, Cracker Barrel. 11 long hard years,” the petition reads. “Cracker Barrel owes this much to this kind man and his loving wife. When we reach 10,000 signatures, this petition will be delivered to Cracker Barrel’s corporate office.”